Andrew Proos, M.D.

After a number of years spent exploring the management side of medicine, I returned to the Memorial Campus in June, 2007. This was my home for more than a decade following residency, and it remains a good fit for me. My administrative work over the last five years has included stints as Associate Chief Medical Officer (at this campus), Associate and Acting Chief of Anesthesia at both St. Vincent's Hospital in Worcester and Miriam Hospital in Providence, and Medical Director of a six OR free-standing daysurgery center.

In the latter position, I was reminded of my love for clinical anesthesia and the day-to-day challenge of taking care of patients in a caring, efficient, and medically excellent manner. The decision to return to full-time clinical practice has been surprisingly easy, but I remain grateful for the various opportunities I’ve been able to explore during the past several years. No journey is ever wasted, and I believe my experience with management will translate into a better ability to understand the "big picture" and work effectively to improve the systems and processes that impact daily clinical care. Leaving the UMass system for a time satisfied my need to see what was out there, exposed me to a variety of new clinical and operational ideas, and perhaps most importantly, left me comfortable with the quality of the institution I am happy to call home once again.

Specific areas of non-clinical interest/experience include clinical quality improvement, OR operations (process improvement, cost-efficiency, operational-efficiency), and the business and management aspects of anesthesia practice.

My clinical interests include obstetric and regional anesthesia, and acute pain management, but I also value the opportunity for ongoing exposure to a variety of surgical cases. In addition to a busy high-risk obstetric service with approximately 4500 deliveries per year, the Memorial Campus is home to the institution’s joint replacement program. Our nineteen operating rooms also serve busy vascular, urologic, gynecologic, general and oncologic surgical services which combine to ensure exposure to a broad variety of challenging and interesting cases for both residents and attendings.

I am currently developing my new role as Residency Coordinator for the Memorial Campus. This includes oversight of the rotation directors for the obstetric and thoracic anesthesia rotations on this campus, as well as direct responsibility for the residents here for the general rotation. I look forward to working as colleague and mentor with each of them as they continue their professional journey, and I welcome the challenge of frequently having to explain, “Why?”